Rumor Of The Haunted
by JustCallMeDisc0rd3r
Summary: This is based upon a nice and creepy story by Pinkie Pie luvs Ninjago called Rumor of the Haunted. She gave me permission to make a rewrite to test my horror writing skills...soooo... The ninja wake up in a strange new version of their world, a world where darkness reigns and the only people anywhere are our heros, no Wu, no Garmadon, only the monsters hiding within the blackness.
1. Awoken In The Dark

Kai

I woke up in my bed; the cushions were soft and I didn't want to get up but I knew if I didn't Sensei wouldn't be pleased, so I sat up and then BAM!, I hit my head against the top bunk. Had it been brighter I may have been saved from such an embarrassing endeavor.

"Damnit..." I cursed silently, rubbing my forehead as I stood and stretched, but when my eyes had fully adjusted I realized something was different.

This was the Bounty!

The Bounty had been destroyed years ago.

"I guess that explains the bunks..." I muttered to myself, walking towards the exit of our old room and opening the door.

I walked through the familiar halls of the flying ship, looking but finding no one.

On the deck I stood moments later, looking out at the desert where I knew it had originally been found. There was nothing but dunes of sand and the city of NinjaGo in the distance.

"Hello?" I called, voice echoing off of the sandy hills only to recieve no answer.

I pulled out my communicator that I hadn't used in years, one given to me by Cole, and I spoke into it.

"Hello?" I spoke once again, this time into the red colored remote, obviously color coordinated so each who received one could tell whose was whose.

A little bit of static came over the speaker, and a familiar muffled voice called out just before the device beeped, indicating low signal.

I clicked the button to return a transmission. "Alice? ALICE?! P.I.X.A.L.? Is that you?"

The answer was clear enough. Both of the voices I thought I heard replied back with a yes, and staticky confirmation that they were speaking from P.I.X.A.L.'s transmitter.

My eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "I don't know if you can hear me clearly or not, but I'm in the desert at the Bounty, my battery is about to go dead so if we could meet at the-"

I was cut off when my radio beeped loudly three times...then the static cut to silence.

"SHIT!" I yelled, throwing the damned thing across the deck at the door leading back to the halls.

With a hiss of anger I ran back through them, calling out to see if maybe there were others just asleep like me, but upon inspection of every room I realized there was no one...

So I sat myself down and tried to think back to what happened before I'd fallen asleep, (assuming that it actually was sleep...), but I could remember nothing, and since that was true then I must have either been drunk, extremely exhausted...

Or attacked...

Standing back upright I stepped back out onto the deck of the weathered ship, looking out at the city in the distance.

"Eh...it doesn't seem too far..."

Stepping onto the blazing sand, I raced toward NinjaGo City, hoping maybe someone would be there to help me.

X.X.X

The sun shone brightly, boiling the skin under my ninja gi, though agonizingly sweltering as it was I kept on my journey. The city was just too close to give in to the desert now!

Once I reached the city I realized it was just as deserted as the bounty had been. No one, nothing was around. Paper flew from multiple buildings in multiple directions, their ultimate goal to enslave the pavement.

I shaded my eyes from the sun, trying to get a better look around. _Where is everyone?_ I thought. _Or...an even better question would be, where are Sensei Wu and the others? If Alice and P.I.X.A.L. were okay then shouldn't everyone else be too?_

My eyes squinted as I stared directly at the sun, which seemed hyper-realistic and much...much too bright.

Then suddenly something ran past me, sending a gush of cold air down the back of my neck.

My hair flew in the direction of the wind, then fell flat, making it look somewhat like a mullet, or maybe just long version of Justin Beiber's style.

I quickly messed my hair up again not wanting anyone to notice how flat it was even though...

When I turned around nothing was there so I assumed it must have been the wind.

But more cold air brushed past my neck, chilling me once again and yet again, when I turned around it was just empty space.

I ground my teeth together and ran for the nearest building. The doors were unlocked and it was empty just like the rest of this damn town!

_I can't believe this is happening!_ I thought angrily to myself. _There isn't a damn thing to explain it all!_

I looked around at the contents of the room, all of which were astray, and I was about to start a search for anything that could give me information, but something made me freeze; I could sense something from behind, watching me.

I could feel its breath on my neck and I gulped, wanting to move but how could I? I was trapped, not to mention terrified...of the vicious and ugly beast that was behind me now...

I closed my eyes, hoping, praying it would go away and leave me alone, but the breath became more prominent, and I could hear it now.

I was waiting for my end to come, I was waiting for some horrible beast to come forth and bite off my head, but instead a soft, familiar voice sounded in my ear.

"Kai?"


	2. Trapped In A Tower

Alice

_Aw hell..._

_Where am I?_

_It's...so dark...and dusty..._

I coughed vigorously, only turning up more dust and hitting my limbs on the insides of a small crate.

_Wait..._

_A crate!?_

Despite the tiny enclosed space I sat myself upright, neck craning as I fit my shoulders parallel to the top of the wooden box. I placed my hands out in front of me and pressed on the planks enclosing me, but to no avail.

"Loading boot disk..." I suddenly heard beside me. When I turned my head I saw P.I.X.A.L. there, laying stiffly on her side, eyes open and shining their iridescent green, and three glowing blue dots on her chest were blinking in sequence.

"P.I.X.A.L.!?" I called, crawling over to her and turning her onto her back.

She blinked twice, then her body relaxed and she looked at me.

"Alice? Hello..." She looked around into the darkness, where, now that my eyes had adjusted, little streams of light were peeking in through the cracks in the wood. "Where are we?"

I bit my lip. "We...we...we..."

P.I.X.A.L. sat up, hitting her head on the too of the box with a metallic thunk. She responded to that with little more than a noise of exclamation, then reached out and touched my shoulder. "Are you glitching?" She asked, concerned.

I shook my head. "No...just...we're locked inside a shipping crate..."

PIXAL's eyes grew impossibly wide, and she felt around at the sides of the box.

"Oh no...oh no..." She muttered, seeming to be even more frightened than I was. "Did you try to open it?" She asked.

"Yes." I answered.

Her breathing grew rapid, and she started to fumble around. "Alice, there's got to be a way out of this box! I can't stand small spaces...Cyrus said I have something called claustrophobia due to an error in my programming and now I'm starting to believe him..."

She stopped fumbling with the walls now, curling up into a ball and trying to make the box seem as big as possible, she was quietly hyperventilating.

I slowly crawled back toward her, wrapping her up in a big, comforting hug. "I'm going to get us out of this thing. I promise. Just keep your head, you sound almost human."

She looked at me with her big eyes, I smiled and for a second this provoked a laugh in her.

"Heheh...you're right..." She took a deep breath. "It is merely a virus...my systems can beat it..." And then another. "I am calm. I can assist you if you need."

I looked around again at the inner walls of the box. "I'll be fine. Just relax yourself while I kick the shit out of this damn thing."

Then with a cry of determination I began to do exactly that. For quite a while the wood didn't budge, and my artificial leg was starting to get tired, despite all laws of logic that said it wasn't possible, and I was just about ready to give up when, finally, the wood started to crackle upon being struck.

I smiled, laughing a little almost manically. "Fucking finally!" I cried, managing to keep up my strength long enough to bust out a board. "Just a few more minutes and we'll be out of here..."

A few more powerful kicks and the wall was down. I slithered my way out into the daylight which scalded my eyes, then turning back to help P.I.X.A.L. through.

We both stood, stretching ourselves and taking in our surroundings.

"This...is my father's building..." P.I.X.A.L. stated.

I glanced at her. "*Borg Industries? Really?"

All around papers and fallen ceiling tiles were strewn about, accompanied by numerous varieties and layers of filth and vermin. All the computers were broken and some fizzled with static, and the windows were either shattered, littering the floor, or blacked out by years and years of dust.

"It's...so...gross..." I said bluntly, finding it hard to take it all in. "What the hell happened?"

P.I.X.A.L. shook her head. "I...do not know...before I woke I have no memory of how we got here...or...really any memory..."

After a moment of thinking I realized I didn't recall anything either.

This whole situation was just really bizarre.

My neck prickled as a draft of cold air snaked its way down my spine, and I shivered, hugging myself and rubbing my arms.

"Looks like someone wanted to play a game..." PIXAL said softly, trying to make light of the situation by referencing my favorite horror franchise.

I scoffed good-naturedly. "Good one...but now is no time for joking...we can tell plenty of jokes when we find the others..."

_But..._

_Where were the others?_

Another layer of static started to fizzle into our plane of sound, PIXAL looked down at her wrist, which was flashing red. "It's mine." She said.

I walked over to her and together we tried to set the dials right so the static would go away, when a voice came on beneath the white noise."

_"Hello?"_ It called.

With furrowed eyebrows I pressed the talk button. "Hi, we're stuck in the *Borg Industries tower..."

P.I.X.A.L. leaned in close. "We can hear you fine, but can you hear us?"

_"Alice? ALICE?! P.I.X.A.L.? Is that you?"_

It was Kai.

"Yes!" I answered. "It's us, we're using P.I.X.A.L.'s transmitter to read your signal."

There was a moment of silence before the white noise started again.

_"I don't know if you can hear me clearly or not, but I'm in the desert at the Bounty, my battery is about to go dead so if we could meet at the-"_

Slowly but steadily, the static in the background started to increase in volume, drowning out Kai's voice, and soon instead of Kai's voice there were numerous others, whispering, screaming, singing along to the rhythm of the white noise...

Then there was a click and everything was silent.

We were alone once again.


	3. Chains

Nya

_What was going on..._

Oh god what was this cutting into my arms?

I struggled against my bonds and soft metallic clanking could be heard.

Chains!

It was chains...

Damnit!

"KAI!" I screamed, trying to wriggle free from the tightly locked links. "KAI HELP ME!"

_Oh lord it's so cold...why is it so cold..._

I couldn't feel my fingers and toes I realized. And these chains only seemed to get tighter and tighter.

"JAY!? ZANE? COLE!"

It was no use. Wherever I was my screams just bounced off the walls and back to my ears, creating a near deafening roar of my own screams.

I just lay there until the echoes stopped, and then it tried to think back to training.

_What did Sensei Wu say to do when a Constrictai got a grip on you?_

_Relax..._

_Relax!?_

_How could I relax at a time like this?_

I took a deep breath though and relaxed all of the muscles in my body, then starting to slither slowly forward until the clang of the chains falling free sounded.

"YES! Yes!" I cried, scrambling forward and to my feet. Then I took a look around.

Wait...

This was...

Home...

The old house Kai and I used to share with our father...

But it had been completely ransacked, swords and various diagrams littered the floor...which was stained dark with-

I shut my eyes, blanking out the image that I didn't want to see.

"I have to find Kai..." I told myself, walking blindly toward the exit of the house until I found the opening and walked out into the sweltering heat.

"Jeez..." I voiced to myself. "You'd think it'd be a little cooler with the room being like a refrigerator..."

Suddenly, something took a right hold of my ankle, and I fell forward. Screaming I kicked at whatever had a grip on my and scrambled forward, looking back fearfully to see a crying and familiar face.

"Oh dear god...Elena!?"

X.X.X

The poor snowy angel whimpered softly, clinging to my arm with one hand and rubbing the sore side of her face with the other as we took a nice leisurely stroll through NinjaGo city...which had looked like it'd been through hell.

"I'm sooooooo sorry I kicked you. I mean...I was scared...I-I-I thought you might of been some sort of evil creature..."

She smiled sweetly, looking in the direction of my voice. "It's fine, Nya. I understand how fear works...I'm not angry with you."

God she was just so sweet and forgiving and I had to have kicked her in the damn face!

Sheesh I should have looked back first...

A chill went down my spine, a strange chill that only spread through my nerves rather than my whole body...

"Elena...do you feel that?" I asked.

She replied to me with a yes.

"Is it Zane, do you think?"

She shook her head. "It is cold...but this isn't Zane's power at work...or mine for that matter. If it were any one of us it would be mainly external...no this...this is something...terrible...horrible..." And she shivered violently and cringed into my side. "There...th-there's someone behind us..." She whispered.

_Should I look back this time?_ I wondered. _Maybe it's one of the ninja..._

_But if it was they would have said something or at least tapped me by now..._

Fearfully, I slowly turned my head around, glancing over my shoulder to see that nothing was there.

"Elena...I don't see anything..."

She let out a shuddery whimper. "Can you feel it...? She shook her head slowly, closing her sightless eyes and leaning in to me. "It's breathing on my neck...Nya make it stop..."

I immediately felt sick. "Come on, we have to run!"

I took one of her hands and began to sprint, she kept up but only barely, as she was much smaller than I was and took smaller strides.

We ran what seemed like forever until we heard an angry voice from inside a nearby building...well...until she heard an angry voice.

"Nya..." She said, tugging my sleeve. "It's Kai. He's here..." She lifted a hand and pointed over towards a large building. "There...it sounds like he's in there..."

I grinned, almost manically. "Let's go." I requested, pulling her after me into the building.

It was just as ruined inside as it had appeared on the outside. Glass on the floor, papers strewn everywhere, animal remains and insects nesting in the corners.

What in hell happened to this place?

I cast the thought from my mind, leading us both down the many dimly lot corridors until, finally, I spotted what I was looking for.

A tall man with reddish brown hair wearing a red ninja gi.

I walked up to him slowly, and reached out to touch his shoulder. "Kai...?"


	4. The Lights

Kai

Shaking, I rotated my body until I was face to face with the monster, now realizing that it was Nya. Relieved I leapt forward and hugged her tightly.

"Nya!" I cried, squeezed her tighter. "I-I thought you were some sort of beast!"

My sister narrowed her eyes at me. "Well gee thanks..."

I pressed my hand to my face. "No I mean...do you realize how weird this whole place had gotten?"

She looked around at our strange surroundings and nodded. "Yeah...it is super strange..."

I was just about to reply to her, but I saw something move behind her.

"N-Nya? Did...you being someone with you?"

"What?" She looked behind her. "Yeah I found Elena before I found you." She coaxed the tiny, timid woman from behind her.

"Elena!? Oh thank god." I stepped forward and gave her a nice big hug, and she hummed into my chest.

"It was so cold...I'm glad you still have body heat..."

Poor girl did feel only half thawed, I took off the top of my gi and wrapped it around her.

"Was Zane with you by any chance?"

Clinging to my undershirt, Elena whimpered. "No..."

"Well...what about-"

I was only able to start my next question before I heard a strange buzzing noise behind me. I turned around and went to the window to see the streetlights winking out, one by one flickering and then going black. The sky had also gone dark pretty fast and it was clear that something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" Nya asked, stepping forward so she could see. All the other buildings were black, the lights had gone out. But my eyes weren't focused on that, they were on the street lights. Still flickering, they went out one by one until there was only one left standing, the one right in front of the only building still with power...ours.

"Kai," Nya panted, getting closer to me and clinging tightly to one of my arms.

We both backed up, bumping into Elena, who we brought into our fearful group, then we proceeded to back up further. Once we had reached the wall behind us, we sank down, making sure not to let go of each other as the final light faded to black, and the entire building followed suit.

Screams could be heard from inside the various rooms of the building, horrible, agonized screams of people we could not see, and then the screams were drowned out by inhuman wailing and howls.

Nya took rapid deep breaths, Elena hid her face, and once the howling stopped we all three stood slowly and tried to find the door.

With a loud thump Elena collapsed, nearly pulling us down to the floor with her. She had tripped on something, rather large from the size of it.

Luckily, Nya felt around on her person and realized she had her wrist communicator on. Upon booting it up it released a low, but steady, red stream of light.

It was hard to see because it was pitch black to begin with, and the object Elena had tripped on was fully clad in the same color.

Flinching a bit, it moved, and Elena placed her hands where it stirred the most.

"Cole!" She breathed. "Oh goodness it's Cole!" She lifted the black ninja up and onto her lap, facing him upright so we could see his lightly bruised face.

He stirred. "Uh...guys...?" He stared groggily up at Elena. "Wha...where were you when I was calling you...?"

I stopped trembling with fear, letting do of my sister and kneeling down by him.

"We didn't hear anyone. I tried calling earlier but to no avail..." Then I thought a moment. "Do you have any idea what happened to this place?"

He sat up a little, leaning his head back against Elena's chest. " Not a clue...I can't remember the last thing that happened before I blacked out.." He rubbed the back of his head. "Must've been one hell of a hangover...I woke up at my dad's, but it was completely empty. I went to search for you guys but it started to rain and I ran in here for safety. When I looked outside the sky was black, but it wasn't raining anymore, and then the lights started to blackout."

"Same thing happened to us..." I stated. Nya nodded her head, saying that she agreed with me.

Elena had teary eyes, and she pet Cole's hair lightly. "Are you okay?" She asked in a quiet voice.

Finally, Cole sat completely upright. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about...everyone else..."

I nodded. "Me too. We should probably start scoping the city to see if we can find them..."

We all agreed to work together to find out what happened and to find our family. During the rest of the time Nya kept her phone light on to keep everyone from getting scared and to provide the well needed search light to assure that we didn't trip over anyone else.

Another strange chill shot through my nerves, and I shivered violently.

I looked over to the window, where a light outside illuminated the plume of white that escaped my lips.

But...

Didn't the power just go out?

Slipping away from the group, I went to the window, looking out to see a single illuminated streetlight...a streetlight that had a broken bulb inside. In the middle of the ray of light, standing in the park across the street, stood a dark shadow.

I stared at the shadow quizzically, trying to make out what it was. It's arms...or what appeared to be arms stretched out wide, it lifted it's head, removing it's hood and revealing a pasty, ghostly white face with big, black, hollow eyes and no mouth...

Or so I thought...

Because a grin spread across it's ghastly face, full of deadly, sharp teeth. Then it began to open it's mouth impossibly wide, and the screaming and howling surrounded us once more.

Suddenly, it jerked it's head upright, staring straight into my soul with it's black hole eyes.

Quickly, I drew the shutters to close the blinds over the window and backed up towards the others.

"Nya! Turn off the light! NOW!"

My voice cracked frantically even though it wasn't anywhere near above a whisper.

The light seeping in through the cracks between the blinds flickered off, and suddenly they were thrown across the room in our direction to reveal the awful white face grinning at us, pressed right up to the glass.

Nya screamed, and Elena shivered with Cole by her side.

"Make it go away, make it go away!" She whimpered, sobbing quietly.

I backed into the others and we all kept close in an embrace that couldn't make the chill go away.

The monster at the window opened it's mouth wide, breathing heavily on the glass and leaving a fog there.

The screams were becoming maddening and just when I thought I was about to pass out, the thing disappeared...just like that...and Zane was standing in front of the window, wide eyed, and missing some of his artificial skin.

Looking around with confusion, he was hyperventilating.

"Wha...what...? Wha..." The lights came back on finally. His eyes fell on us, then rolled up into his head, and with a soft groan he fell convulsing to the floor.


	5. Malfunction, Malfunction

Elena

I could feel the change of air in the room.

The screaming had stopped but there was still another presence.

"Wha...what...? Wha..."

That was Zane's voice.

What was going on?

I heard his release a pained groan and with a thud something crashed to the floor.

"Oh!" I cried, crawling forward on my hands and knees until they touched his torso.

He was seizing.

"Zane..." I called softy. "Zane what's wrong?!"

I held his face in my hands and leaned over him. "What's going on Zane?"

He wheezed, suddenly going limp. I felt his head turn and his hand touched my face. "C-c-c-c-can't...f-f-f-f-function...th-th-th-th-th-the c-c-c-cold..."

It seemed he was being affected by the strange chills too.

His arm fell from it's perch on my shoulder. "B-b-bad mal-lfunctio-on...when-n shad-d-d-dow is c-c-close..."

"Shadow?" I asked. "What shadow?"

He cried out softly, chest arching upwards as he fell back into a fit of seizures.

"ZANE!" Called Kai from behind me, offering a radius of heat as he sat beside me. "Zane you need to calm down, if you don't this will only continue..."

Zane started breathing heavily. "K-K-Kai...Kai...th-th-th...ahhhh god!"

"What! Zane? What? What is it!?"

Suddenly the man in my arms was still, and he sat completely upright. "The shadow."

Behind me, I could feel the chill, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end.

X.X.X

Zane

"The shadow."

I pointed right past Elena's head at the white faced ghoul in the center of the room.

It's face was only barely visible beneath the hood, and when our eyes came into contact my vision faded to static and I fell back onto the floor.

Why wouldn't I stop seizing...?

_Hello ninja... _It spoke, voice low and yet high and scratchy, very eerie. _You have something that belongs to me..._

I couldn't see what was going on but I felt Elena shaking with fear, and Kai was squeezing my hand tightly.

Who was this shadow? Why was it after us?

_Come closer ninja. _The voice cooed, seeming slightly more feminine now.

I felt the chill at an intense capacity and suddenly I felt two more bodies join my side.

_Closer..._

I felt some sort of vacuum...she was taking us somewhere.

Somehow I managed to bring my seizing self to a proper standing position, then I listened closely and, without thinking, I leapt forward and tried to kick the shadow.

My leg only hit air...air and cold.

_There is no way this thing is human..._ I thought.

_Ohhh you're a tough little robot...smart too. _The voice sneered. _But not smart enough!_

She threw me to the floor.

"What do you want!?" Elena yelled, crying and crouching over my still seizing form.

_One of you has something that I need..._

"Leave us alone!" Nya screamed angrily.

The voice chuckled and suddenly my vision returned...and my body finally...finally relaxed.

It was daylight outside once more.

"What just happened?" Cole asked, leaning over me.

I looked deep into his eyes, feeling very weak. "We...we need to find the rest..."


	6. The Shadow

Jay

The screaming was just absolutely horrendous.

And Arbiteth's calm demeanor regarding the whole situation wasn't really helping either.

I could hear voices speaking outside the closet door, some sounded familiar, but this whole place was a mess of confusion and it was guaranteed not to be who it sounded like.

After a few minutes the howling stopped. And Arbiteth took hold of one of my arms. I could see the glow of her red eyes on my shoulder.

"Is it safe to get out of here yet?" She asked, hissing angrily. "I'm sick of playing Seven Minutes In Hell..."

I rolled my eyes. "We should wait just a few more minutes...just to be absolutely sure that no one is out there..."

Scoffing, she leaned back into her spot next to Lloyd, who grinned sheepishly at her.

"You know...if Jay wasn't in here it would be more like Seven Minutes In Heaven..."

I looked back at him. "Okay...cheesy pick up lines belong to me and Dareth first of all. Second...this isn't the time to be courting your snake friend. We need to be absolutely certain we are safe."

Arbiteth wrinkled her nose. "Calm down, he was just trying to make things a little less morbid..."

I sighed. "I understand that...but when you've spent the better part of your life running from the bad guys you know when to be serious..."

I pressed my ear to the door, trying to listen for anything.

"What just happened?" A familiar voice asked.

"We...we need to find the rest..." Another familiar voice replied, and I realized that our friends were out there.

I opened the closet door and we all crawled out from our hiding spaces.

"Uhh, no need for that." I spoke. "We've been in here for quite a while now...only now decided it was safe..." I looked around the room and exclaimed in shock: "Wait...we were hiding in the bank...how did we get here?"

Kai shook his head. "That doesn't matter. There is just something seriously wrong going on and we need to figure it out, ASAP."

Zane stood from his laying down position on the floor, panting lightly. "I...I tried finding the Sensei...Misako...but they were no where...everyone is nowhere..."

"All except us..." Came a voice off to the side. I turned to look...and Alice and P.I.X.A.L. were standing in the room entrance.

Cole smiled wide. "Alice! You're okay!?"

He looked to P.I.X.A.L. "And you too! We're all here!"

Alice raised her hand to silence him. "Now isn't the time for greetings. We need to figure out what that shadow wants..."

I shrugged. "I haven't the slightest clue. I never heard anything about a shadow or anything..."

Zane shakily walked over to the android and the cyborg. "It...the shadow...said that it wanted something...and it attacked us...so...whatever it is must be important..." He looked at Alice. "You're into the paranormal...have you read about anything like this?" He paused. "Did you see it?"

Alice shook her head. "No. But I heard it speak. And it sounded just like something out of Supernatural...I've heard of shadows that possess the living...or invade and fester in their consciousness...but as of now this is beyond me."

"We should find a library." I suggested. "Maybe there is some reference on this shadow and what it wants."

For once everyone agreed with me and we left the dark sanctity of the building for the ominous and now painfully bright outside world.


	7. The Book

Cole

All our eyes...except for Elena's I guess, were straining hard against the blazing sun that was unnaturally bright.

She clung to my arm fearfully, pressing her cheek to it.

"Oh...I hope everyone is okay..." She whispered, sniffling a little. "I don't know what I'd do if the shadow..."

I smiled at her, though I knew it would only go over her head. "Everyone will be fine..." I reassured. "We've got to be in some sort of parallel dimension. We'll get back home soon and everything will be fine again."

She whimpered. "I hope so..."

Zane stood to my left and he pointed to the right of me. "Found a library..."

He was right, the only building we had passed so far that wasn't completely destroyed was the library. Above it was a banner: "Find All The Books You Need Here!"

"Hey guys!" I called to the people behind me. "Zane found the library!"

The group gathered around me and we all entered the building together. The place was surprisingly clean. All papers were in neat little stacks and the books all seemed to be in alphabetical order.

"Another abandoned place..." Alice said with venom in her voice. "Fucking perfect..."

But, contrary to Alice's observation, a voice then rang out from the isles of book.

"Hello? Who is that?"

Elena clung tightly to my arm. "Dareth!? Dareth it's us!"

"Elena?" The voice called back. "Oh thank god some actual people!"

Soon the man in the brown ninja gi stood among us, giving Elena relieved hugs and kisses. "Oh man..." He began. "I thought I was all alone here. I woke up in my dojo...but I didn't remember anything before that...and then this...freaky dude started chasing me and just whoa..."

Elena took his face in her hands. "I'm so glad you're okay..." She cooed softly.

He smiled at her. "Same here babe...but do you have any idea where everyone is? Or what's going on?"

Zane shrugged. "None of us know. That's why we are here. To see if we can find something."

Arbiteth stepped forward. "Alice is our occult expert...or about as expert as we can get. So anything you find you should report it to her."

I nodded. "You heard the lady. Everyone take a section, start searching!"

Everyone went to a separate section, respectively...and I was stuck with an immense shelf of nonfiction.

Sighing, exasperated, I started to leaf through page after page, book after book...and each one one more useless than the next.

Some of them were about the supernatural and the occult, but they were mostly about stupid witness accounts and stuff like that...

At least until I spotted one different from the rest.

It was very dark...looking like black leather, and it was embossed with bronze trim.

Curiously I went to it, and upon retrieval I brushed the dust off to reveal the title: Rumor Of The Haunted.

My eyebrows furrowed, I was intrigued and yet confused.

I turned through the pages of the ancient book, viewing strange diagrams and pictures galore.

Some pages were torn out, replaced toward the back cover, and that many pages were faded to an almost unreadable scrawl.

But what pages I could understand read things of this nature: The Woman Of The Woods, The Animals, The Story Behind It All, The Key...

"Hey guys?" I called. "I think I found something."

Within seconds everyone was surrounding me. I gave the papers to Alice but I had trouble letting to of the book. I just really wanted to hold it.

I didn't know why...

We all went to a nearby table and Nya and Alice sat down to try and decipher the information.

"So..." I began, trying to break the awful silence. "Any luck?"

"Yeah." Nya stated. "Here, listen to this! _The Story Behind it All. For many years, NinjaGo City was in greater depths of malice. More powerful beings than the Overlord, it released creatures from different worlds. It was unknown if this creature was a male or female. Ancient text regarding the matter say that it came always looking for a book. There was something in that book that would allow chaos, and the destruction of the universe. However, the book it is after is more than just a book. It can persuade those who find it to release the creatures within it's pages. It has a way of haunting the mind of whoever located it first._

_There is portal, a gate that will release the monsters..._

_Hidden in a place far away from the city._

_It is guarded by the ferocious beasts. It is wise to assume that everything is a trap. A fellow friend of mine went out to stop this horrible portal from opening._

_He didn't know of the horrors the book possessed, and the spirit living in it took him over..._

_He couldn't bear the pain he felt and the nightmares he had. This spirit knew well how to haunt him, drive him slowly mad..._

_So one night, he called me over._

_He told me to stick a knife right through his chest._

_But I refused...and he killed himself because of that damned book._

_This page that you are reading now is a warning...I could not handle the power of this book and so I placed it back on the shelf and I ran..._

_And ran..._

_And ran but the haunting never stopped._

_Whoever finds this book..._

_You are in for a world of hell..._"

All eyes turned to me, and Zane stared most intently.

"Cole..." He said in a low voice. "You...you were the one to find this book..."


	8. The Key

Lloyd

Cole's face froze in shock. The corners of his mouth sunk downwards and he blinked in disbelief.

When he closed them his facial expression changed significantly though, from shock to pure, unadulterated terror in three-point-five.

He started to hyperventilate first, seeming unable to open his eyes, and then he started to whimper, sinking down to the floor and hugging the book close to his chest.

"No...no..." He called softly, tears streaming endlessly from his closed eyelids. "Go away, leave me alone..."

"Cole!?" Zane called, approaching him slowly.

Cole starting screaming. "NO! NOOOOOO STOP! I DON'T WANT TO STOOOOOOP!"

I leapt forward, taking hold of the book in his arms and yanking but to no avail.

"Cole! Let it go!" I yelled at him, pulling harder.

His eyes opened then, wild and dilated as if he were high. "NO! It's my book! You let go!"

Zane went behind Cole and tugged on his arms, trying to pry them apart.

"Cole! Do not fight for the book, fight against it! If you don't let it go it will hurt you!"

Suddenly I heard a slight sizzling; upon looking down I saw that the book was glowering red like a hot ember and that my hands were smoking.

"Ahh!" I cried, letting go after peeling some cooked skin from my palms and falling on my back to the floor.

Jay ran to my side, examining my hands and gesturing over anyone who may have bandages or something on their person to clean my burns, but he was interrupted by a strange and hateful voice.

_You ninja think you can prevent me from being released?_ The voice hissed, appearing before us.

Zane froze in his act of restraining Cole, his eyes turning foggy before he fell in a heap to the ground.

It was the shadow from before...at least the voice was the same...

"Who are you?" Kai shouted out loud, clenching his fists and approaching the beast.

_I...am your worst nightmare! _It cackled, floating through the walls, in between each of us. _I am the Queen of all monsters! And you are the sniveling humans who locked my pets and I back into purgatory..._

She drifted around and around us all, until she was close to Cole and the book he clutched tightly in his arms.

_I want what is mine...The book! With it, all of my pets will be free and we can finally destroy NinjaGo!_

The shadow extended a pasty white hand, stroking Cole's black hair almost lovingly. _With the book now in his possession, he'll have no choice but to obey me! If he does not, things can be arranged...terrible things..._

Just then, Cole started to scream in horror and his eyes were aglow with the color purple; strange liquid was now flowing from his eyes, black and viscous.

_I will be watching you... _She said, barely above a whisper, then faded away into the darkness.

Nya and I ran to Cole, helping him upright once his screaming subsided.

"We have to help him!" Nya exclaimed, holding him steady.

Cole was limp, and his eyes half-lidded.

Jay looked intently into Cole's eyes, they still seeped the disgusting fluid, and they were nearly lifeless.

Jay left my side to help Zane, who was regaining his breath.

"We...are not safe here in the city..." He panted. "We must...leave for somewhere further away..."

Arbiteth stepped to my side, holding on to my arm. "It may not be entirely safe...but we can go to the serpentine tombs...they are quite difficult to find if we close the door behind us..."

I looked at her morosely, smiling jut the slightest bit. "That would be all good and fine...but...there could be more clues throughout the city that could help us keep the gate closed..."

Dareth raised his hand. "Um...maybe we could go back to my place? I uh...I was too scared to do much searching...so maybe there is something there that I overlooked?" He looked down at my charred hands. "And I have first aid too so Elena can fix you up..."

I nodded. "Thank you, Dareth."

X.X.X

Arbiteth

Lloyd's hands were pretty bad.

They were charred so they didn't bleed too bad but...

It was awful.

Elena poured rubbing alcohol on his wounds and he cried out loudly in pain, then she applied antibiotic ointment and bandages and after Zane set the zoned-out Cole against the wall we all proceeded to search for clues.

I could hear Lloyd wince as he searched through Dareth's things, leafing through magazines and his multitude of fake trophies.

"Elena...I'm glad you can't see some of these things..." He said, laying down a provocative magazine in the garbage.

"Hey!" Dareth retaliated. "In my defense I was going to throw them out, that's why they're all out here."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever Dareth, we all know she's too shy to give you any..."

"Shit!"

I turned to see Lloyd face down on a rug, one of the edges folded back.

"Damn, don't you ever clean this place?" He asked.

Dareth scratched his head. "Uh...that wasn't like that...when that thing showed up I...I just ran. It must've bunched up then."

Lloyd sat up, holding something in his hands.

"Guys come here...I found something."

Of course, I was closest so I arrived first. The object in his hand was a large key, brass or copper, covered in green residue from oxygen exposure, though still shiny in some spots.

Alice arrived next, followed by almost everyone else. She took the key from his hands and examined it.

"What is it?" Jay asked, brushing dust from his blue gi.

"A key..." Alice stated. "It's so old...and it could be our first clue."

Nya came forward, taking a look for herself. "It seems as if it was a part of something big! Maybe that thing is hidden somewhere in this room."

Kai shrugged. "Seems feasible. If the key was found here, then it's missing part must be located somewhere in here..."

Nya set the key down on the shelf which held all of Dareth's magazines and trophies.

"Everybody search for something in this room with a big lock." She ordered. "If you spot something, feel free to ask to try the key!"

Instantly, they all started to scavenge the building again.

"Hey guys? I'm gonna get the key, I may have found it!"

Curiously, I followed him after he left his room, across from mine, entering the main room to see him looking at the key in horror.

"Why...why is this key...bloody?" He looked at me fearfully, holding up a dagger. "Where did this come from? And...where's Cole?"

My eyes darted about the room, and they came to a stop on a blood trail, I followed it until my gaze fell upon a fallen form, it looked like he had tried to crawl outside.

He was cloaked in and dripping red.


	9. Red Road

Jay

"...J...Jay..." Arbiteth nearly choked from behind me.

I put down the bloody dagger and turned to her. "What is it? You find..."

She was staring at something, her back to me.

I walked up behind her. "Whatcha lookin'...at..."

Before her, laying on the ground, was the corpse of Kai.

All I could think to do was stare helplessly, but I managed to snap out of my trance long enough to turn away and puke violently all over Dareth's carpet.

I made myself look back.

"Kai..." I breathed, falling to my knees. "It...it can't be..."

I heard footsteps behind me but I didn't turn to greet them.

"Jay are you alright?" Nya asked, sounding worried.

I sniffled. "Oh...I'm okay..." I pointed to te red red form on the floor. "But...Kai isn't...he...he..."

Angrily, I heard Nya storm behind me. "What about Kai damnit!? Tell m-"

And then she saw the body of her brother dead and still bleeding on the floor.

"Kai?" She asked quietly, reaching forward and touching the still-warm body. "KAI!? Kai get up! Get up PLEASE! I need you Kai! Please?!"

I pulled her back away from her brother, who she was trying to pound into consciousness, spooning her against my chest. "It's okay...everything's okay...he isn't in this hell anymore..."

Nya started to wail loudly. "Kai no! Kai...why..." She sobbed, turning her face to one side. "Kaiiiiiii..."

I pressed my lips to her temple, shushing gently. "It's okay...he'll be okay now..."

She looked back at me, I wiped a tear from her cheek and she smiled sadly. "You always know how to make me feel good..." She whispered.

I snuggled her. "There will always be a part of him in our hearts..." I reassured.

"I know, Jay...thank you..."

After some silence Lloyd spoke up. "Listen...I know this is sad and all...but...Cole is missing...and...so is the book...if we don't find him...we could lose him too..."

Zane sighed. "He...he is right...Cole was completely catatonic...but that does not mean that the book didn't make him run away."

Alice kicked over Dareth's trophy case, growling angrily.

Elena reached for her. "Alice please stay calm..."

Alice took a deep breath. "I know...I get it...but...this whole situation is just...wearing on my nerves..."

Nya pulled herself from my lap, standing. "We should start looking...before he gets killed too..."

Without hesitation, we all agreed.

X.X.X

Cole

I didn't really understand what was going on.

My head hurt...

My hands wouldn't let the book go for even a second...

Kai was searching the main room of Dareth's dojo and talking to me.

"I don't know where you are buddy...but I hope you wake up soon...whatever you're seeing could help us out here..."

Suddenly...I grew very angry, and I stood, scoping the room for something...something painful...

My eyes fell on a knife...oh goodness it was so pretty...very shiny...begging for a home inside warm flesh...

And soon...I was standing before Kai's corpse...with a bloody knife in my hands...

What did I do? Oh god please tell me I didn't...

I placed the knife back on it's shelf...backing fearfully toward the exit; I fled outside. It was raining red, the roads were soaked in crimson.

I ran as fast as I could away from the others, trying to get so far that I would never be able to hurt them.


	10. The Dagger

Lloyd

While Dareth finally realized the puke stain on his carpet...and by realized I mean stepped in...I had picked up and examined the key I had found.

We were all on our way back to god knows where, maybe the library...but something strange about the key made me stop, not following the others out the door.

My twin looked back at me quizzically. "What is it, Lloyd..."

I looked to her. "Alice...my name is on this..."

She narrowed her eyes at me, storming back and snatching the key from my hand. "That's ridiculous, just show me where this name...is..."

And sure enough, spelled out in supposedly Kai's blood was my name on the shaft of the key.

"This...doesn't make any sense!" She cried. "What the hell is going on!"

I shook my head. "I don't know...but I do know that this key has to lead us to something...Cole is gone and Kai is..." I didn't say it. "So I'm going to take over. We need to put Kai's death aside for now...the book...probably has something about the key that could help us...we should try to find Cole..."

All agreed.

We all made our way to leave the building; to start yet another search that was certain to lead to destruction or prosperity.

But...

Something out of the corner of my eye moved...

I turned to look back, seeing only Kai's peaceful corpse on the floor.

Quickly I ran back to him, placing a hand on his side. "We will find a way to bring you back, we will not leave you...but for now...we must let you alone to rest..."

X.X.X

Cole

Kai's body had been left alone.

Oh there was so much red...

So beautiful...

Too bad it was only the floor, the walls would look so pretty painted in red...

The body lay sleeping on the floor, motionless, breathless.

I loved it so much.

I smiled down at it.

The Shadow left my side and hovered about the mass of red, smiling almost as wide as I felt I was.

_Oh this is so exciting..._ She cooed, glancing at me. _I wonder who will go next..._

I stared at her, heart swelling. "Those petty ninja had better watch their backs or they all may go next..."

She reached out an arm impossibly far and stroked my hair. "Good boy..."

She swirled around the red corpse, possessing it it seemed...

Soon the body had disappeared and in it and the Shadow's place appeared a beast. Hideous to most but beautiful to me; it had the head of a lion, rhe body of a serpent, the eyes of a bat, and enormous species-less teeth stained wot dark blood.

The beast looked to me with a grin and I knew what she wanted me to do.

I would do it...

Without question.

I loved her too much to disobey.

I nodded to confirm her order; she melted into a puddle of black tar, leaving me alone in the room.

I took a few steps, exiting the building and then...

"How...how did I get back here?"

I looked around at the startlingly bright surroundings that I recognized as just outside Dareth's dojo, the wind blew just barely, the skies were clear...

The roads were no longer red...

Kai...

Where was Kai?

Maybe...

I didn't kill him?

I laughed almost manically, insanely, elated by the possibility that I hadn't killed my brother.

I took a deep breath to contain myself, looking down at the book in my hands.

"The others could probably use this..."

I looked up to see them just a short way in the distance.

Happy, smiling, I ran after them, trying my best to catch up before they were out of my sight.

The last thing I remembered before arriving here had been holding the silver, once shining dagger in my fist.

But I cast that memory from my mind and gleefully re-joined my friends.


	11. Shadows On The Walls

Alice

We had gone back to the library...

I mean it was as if we didn't find enough bull shit to begin with.

They were just begging to get another one of us cursed but...

In reality we didn't have anywhere else to go...

Poor Lloyd had so much responsibility on his shoulders now...

I had to support his decisions no matter what.

About halfway back to the library the lights went out...

The streetlights...

The sun...

The moon...

Stars...

Everything was absolutely lightless.

P.I.X.A.L. clung to me fearfully, while Lloyd and I used our shared golden power to light a path. Though even that didn't seem to do much good on our part...the darkness only served to absorb about eighty percent of the energy we emitted.

"God...it got dark so quick..." Jay breathed, hovering over my shoulder close to my light.

I pushed him back. "It did yes, but please back up, it's hot!"

He sighed. "Sorry..."

We continued to walk, struggling to find our way, when suddenly, hard, rapid footsteps could be heard coming from behind us in the blackness.

I turned, as did Lloyd and the others, huddling close together.

Lloyd and I extended our illuminated hands, trying to see what was pursuing us, but all I saw was a black, shifting shape.

"Cole!" Lloyd cried, rushing forward and embracing the ninja of earth.

Cole put his arms around Lloyd, the book in one hand. "Hey kiddo. Just saw you guys. I think I lost you..."

Jay stepped forward. "No...you ditched us!"

Cole scratched his head, seeming awfully confused. "What? I...I just woke up and I saw you guys leaving me..."

Zane stepped forward with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Well we are glad to have you back with us."

Cole returned his smile. "Thanks." Then he looked around at our group. "Where is Kai?" He asked.

Nya sniffled. "Please don't bring that up...please..."

Lloyd walked up to Cole. "Kai was killed...we turned our backs for just a second...you were gone and he was dead on the floor..."

Cole looked sick, and he suddenly got very pale. "Oh god...how...what?"

Nya started to cry again and Jay was there to comfort her.

I sighed. "I see you still have the book..."

He looked down at it. "Oh, yeah! I figured maybe it'd be of some use once we find some light..."

I shrugged. "We're headed to the library now..."

Cole smiled. "Great. Let's go!"

Dareth sighed, hugging Elena close to him. "It'd be easier to find if Kai..."

I shot him an evil look. "Shut up about Kai! He is dead now! That's that!"

Elena flinched at the harshness of my voice and for a while everyone was quiet.

"I'm sorry..." I soon whispered. "Let's...let's just go..."

X.X.X

Finally we found the library...after the power came back on.

The night was still black as pitch but now at least we could see where we were going.

We all flocked into the library, taking seats toward the back.

Reluctantly Cole handed me he book and I leafed through it's dusty, old pages.

There were so many strange things written in the book.

Some of it was just chicken scratch. I saw mention of darklings and changelings and other such beasts...

All of which equally or more terrifying than the last...

"God...this is all so awful..." I breathed, forcing myself to look through page after gory page.

Meanwhile the others spoke in hushed tones behind me.

"We're trying to find out what it means..." Lloyd answered, the question I had not heard. "I found my name written on this key in Kai's blood..."

Cole hummed. "What the...that's creepy, you try rubbing it off?"

"All the way to the library, it wouldn't go away."

"Hmmm..."

I handed some of the loose papers in the book to Nya, and together we read through them until finally we found something useful.

"Hey guys..." I began. "Listen to this: The Key...it is said that there is another artifact, one other than the book, that is supposedly able to open the portal, and allow the monsters within purgatory to escape...

This artifact is a key, a key that can only be activated by light, rather than the darkness, and once it is activated it has startling capabilities.

There is a page in the book...one with a lock drawn in its center...

I have ripped it up, hidden it...

For the key may be inserted into the supposedly two-dimensional lock to help open the gateway...

It unlocks the demonic capabilities of the book...

I do not think I should go on...

But whoever finds this key...and his the power to activate it...you name will appear in blood...

And you...

I am afraid...

Are doomed...

I have the key now, I am hiding it...

It is blank and I haven't know anyone to be able to activate it...

But please don't try..

There will only be hell to pay...

You must try to destroy it instead...

But beware...if you have found this key she is certainly after you...

Two things...

Keep the artifacts from her, make sure you have it safely hidden...

..."

Everyone looked to each other, silently asking each other questions.

"Well, what's the second thing!?" Dareth cried impatiently. "Does it say how to destroy it?"

I shook my head morosely. "The sentence trails off into...this isn't even comprehensible to be chicken scratch...whoever wrote this...was attacked before he could finish writing..."

Lloyd sat on the table just in front of me, twirling the key between his fingers. "Well...if the key wasn't supposed to be found in the first place...I mean according to this random guy...then what the hell are we supposed to do!? We don't know how to destroy it. And I would rather get out of the doom circle..."

Worried, Arbiteth slinked to Lloyd's side, gripping one of his arms and lightly biting his shoulder, (which was always a weird way to show affection, even if it was serpentine in origin, but I wasn't about to complain considering the circumstances...).

"Maybe we could put it back where we found it..." She hissed. "Or we could lock it up...get one of those little safe boxes, each of us do a number for the combination, then we could hide it and forget about it."

Elena nodded, seeming to agree. "That could work...no one would ever know the combination...no one could open it..."

Nya sighed. "It isn't that simple...the guy writing said to destroy it. If we just leave it somewhere one of that shadow's minions could find it and take it to her and them we would all be screwed!"

"She is right." Zane agreed. "It cannot be done so simply. We must discover the way to destroy this artifact..."

"But how are we supposed to do that?" Cole asked, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "The sooner the portal is closed forever the better, I don't like the doom circle either!"

Suddenly, Jay screamed loud, leaping fearfully.

"Echhhh! Something is in here! It just touched me!"

Then something strange happened. As he backed himself against a wall, my right eye fizzled out into static, and my artificial side gave way.

I could see Zane struggling to keep himself upright, he was shaking violently, and I saw P.I.X.A.L. on the ground, completely motionless in a broken looking heap on the floor.

The lights began to flicker, and soon everything was black.

X.X.X

Cole

Oh the darkness was so beautiful.

It brought about so many great things.

The Shadows a few of those things.

A light came back on in my corner of the room, but no one seemed to pay me any mind.

No one seemed to notice I had reclaimed my book...as well as something else of dire importance.

I saw the shocked look on Lloyd's face when he looked to see empty hands.

"What is it Lloyd?" Alice called, looking to him.

"The key!" He replied. "It's gone!"

I grinned, fondling the brass stalk in my fingers with glee.

"YOU LOST IT! Damnit Lloyd we need that!"

"I didn't lose it! It just...vanished!"

Everyone huddled close together, crouching near where Jay had backed against the wall.

A Shadow slithered out from behind my back, and it looked to me with it's beautiful white eyes.

I smiled, handing it the key and nodding to it, and it rushed forth, throwing knives in quick succession toward the huddled group.

Elena was cut I saw, and I laughed when she cried out.

This was so much fun...

Where the little daggers had stuck into the wall three more Shadows emerged, floating gracefully about, laughter like bells.

They flocked together, herding the ninja and friends into a corner.

They smiled down at their prey, white teeth illuminating all in their path; they were just itching to sink into a host I was certain.

Lloyd started to desperately search for something to defend his group with, and for a while it looked futile, but he opened up a drawer in a desk next to him and started to rummage as the Shadows closed in tighter.

"What are you doing?" Jay asked in a harsh whisper.

Lloyd replied just as harsh: "I'm looking for something to help us!" And he pulled a stack of library cards from the drawer.

I laughed and Jay grimaced when Lloyd handed some of the cards to him. "And what exactly are these for? Checking out books will not help us!"

"That's not the plan!" Lloyd told him.

The little green ninja crawled forward toward the Shadows, who grinned down at him, watching his every move. He closed one eye and aimed the card at the shadow closest to the exit, but they all started to multiply more and more, and they swam around in the air like screeching schools of fish.

Still with an eye closed, and upon taking out more cards, Lloyd flicked his wrists, striking some of the shadows with the squares of card stock he released.

Against all odds...

The key I had taken fell to the floor.

"Yes!" He yelled, heading the other cards to the other ninja.

They all began to throw, knocking out minion after minion, until there was only one left, before it was killed, before my cover was blown, I fled the library to an alley nearby where a good friend in pretty red awaited me.

His eyes were green, he reminded me of Christmas.

He gave me a smile. "I want to set something on fire..." He said.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Soon. It will happen soon."

Kai was so much better now that he was possessed by a Shadow. Much stronger, better...

We both watched as the group exited the library.

Lloyd had the key in his hand.

The fucking brat...

I needed that key...

He was of no use...

I could kill him...

But then...

Kai wouldn't get to have his fun.

Snarling, my friend and I retreated back into the darkness.


	12. The Animals

Zane

P.I.X.A.L. and Elena were curled into my sides, my arms draped protectively around their shoulders.

I had offered to keep watch when we had stopped to take a rest.

There was a nice cozy spot in the park...

But I was starting to wear thin...

It became increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open, and my head was so heavy...

I was about to doze, my gears still turning and yet begging for sleep...

But suddenly static sparked around the edges of the darkness beneath my eyelids, and immediately I opened them up again.

"Lloyd!" I whispered harshly. "Jay? Nya...everyone..."

I shook those within proximity, causing many to reply with grumpy mumbles.

"You all wake up! Something is wrong."

It grew very cold, and a gust of icy wind blew past us, startling everyone into a waking state.

"What!? What's going on? What!?" Lloyd asked, sitting upright and looking around frantically.

I held him back. "Shhhh, someone is watching us...I can feel it..."

I turned on my night vision, scanning the area and noting the frost all along the ground, frost that piled up towards the bottoms of buildings and other things that touched the ground.

"Strange..." I said to myself. "Was it snowing before?"

I reached down curiously, touching the frosted grass only to receive a painful stinging.

I cried out softly, shaking my hand and bringing it to my face to see the damage that had been done.

"Oh Zane!" Elena called, hugging my arm tight. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." I answered. "But there is a frost on the ground...I believe it is acid, don't let it touch your skin."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something red, glowing, and I turned to look at it.

There were two of them...and whatever it was seemed to be approaching us.

"Everyone, come in close, we may be under attack..."

I stood, shielding them with my body as best as I could, Elena clung desperately to my hand, while P.I.X.A.L. reluctantly let me go.

The light changed color, green strangely enough, and then winked out.

"Zane what is it?" Nya asked, cringing behind me.

"I...I am not sure...my scanners..."

My voice trailed off, for soon after the lights had faded...the darkness provided to us a shockingly familiar face.

"Kai!?" I called, completely bewildered.

"What!?" Nya cried, leaping out from behind me to see if I was being truthful or not.

"Kai!" She said happily, running towards him and leaping into his arms, she threw hers in a right coil around his shoulders and squeezed.

"Nya." He replied, burying his face into the crook of her neck, crying just as she was. "I'm so glad to see you..."

Lloyd stepped out from behind me, glaring at the newly arrived Kai. "How...how are you even alive?!" He asked.

Kai backed away from his blubbering sister, looking to the green ninja. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"The...the dagger...and you were dead on the floor...bleeding...not moving..."

Kai shook his head. "This whole place must be fucking with our heads..." He said coldly. "Because I would certainly know if I had "died" or not..."

He looked around at everyone in our group. "Where is Cole?" He asked.

Jay shrugged. "We don't know. He was with us at the library...but the power went out and he was gone." He snapped his fingers. "Poof. The book too. Just like that."

Elena whimpered. "There were these things...I could hear them...they attacked us...something cut me...the screaming was so terrible..."

I hugged her tight, pressing my lips to her forehead. "It's alright, dear sister...they are gone now...and they will certainly pay for hurting you..."

Lloyd stepped further toward Kai, holding up the key.

"This changed while you were away...it has my name on it now...Cole's book read that whoever's name is on the key was the one who activated it...and that the key unlocks the book's potential so that it can open the portal..."

"We want to destroy it." Nya admitted. "I know you just got back but do you know of any way we could possibly do that?"

Kai grinned then, it was very unsettling, as was his tone in what he said next. "Yes...actually I do know...follow me..."

He turned and the group began to follow him, but I, along with Lloyd and Jay, fell toward the back of the line, staying as far from the fire ninja as possible.

"Something isn't right about him..." Lloyd whispered to us, glaring daggers into Kai's back.

"I believe you...I mean I'm with you." Jay whispered back.

"Me too." I agreed. "We all saw him dead...there was no way with that amount of bloodless that he was able to heal and function that rapidly..."

Lloyd chuckled softly. "I'm glad you guys agree...everyone else seems to be under his spell...we need to be prepared to defend ourselves if this is a trap..."

We nodded, and together we all rushed to catch back up to the group.

X.X.X

Cole

The woods were thick and the mist was aglow white in-between the tree trunks...

But how did I get here?

I didn't have any clothes on, and I was so cold...

So cold...

And it was so dark.

_What is that?_ I asked myself, turning to the noises that provided me no legitimate sources.

_I need to sleep._

_I'm so tired..._

_Please god..._

I found a nice cozy spot nestled in the middle of two trees...it looked like a nest.

I curled into it, relishing in the warmth, I closed my eyes, hugging myself and trying to get my mind to shut down.

_I want my mom..._

_And dad..._

_I want this nightmare to end..._

_I want my friends..._

Tears streamed down my cheeks involuntarily, and I shivered violently against the wind that snaked up my spine.

I cradled the book close to my chest, for some reason it dulled my longing an heartache, and I managed to doze for at least a few minutes...the dreams were terrible.

I did terrible things...

The Shadow...

She made me kill my friend...

Or did she?

I didn't even know which of my personalities was real anymore.

I scratched and clawed at my face, trying to tear the insanity from my head...and I only came to when I heard the twigs snapping in the distance.

I bolted upright, looking around with wild, fearful eyes.

"Please..." I whispered. "Please god let it be just another nightmare..."

I saw dark masses coming toward me from the mist, and against all my urges I pissed in the nest.

"Damnit..." I cursed, them wondering why I was worried about such a stupid thing at a time like this.

I truly must be mad...

They came closer and closer...

I could feel their breath.

"No no no no no..."

It was as the book had told me.

It was the worst possible thing...

At least as of now...

At the moment...

I ran.

It was all I could think to do.

I ran and ran until I was out of the woods...

I entered the desert...

It made no sense but I had to get away.

I didn't care about the chaos I just wanted to live.

The Bounty was in the distance, sun-bleached and glorious and only a few more yards away.

I reached it.

I made it!

I entered and shut the doors tight behind me.

Laughing I searched until I found a fresh pair of clothes and changed into them.

There. I thought. Now I don't seem like such a monster.

I wandered the halls of the ship, stopping only when I found a bedroom.

_Sleep..._

_I need..._

_Sleep..._

I fell face first into one of the mattresses, blissfully falling into the perfect sleep.

There were no nightmares.

It was amazing.

No haunting...

No Shadows...

No monsters...

Just deep...refreshing sleep.

Until I felt the chills...

I opened my eyes again, my white puffs of breath mingling with that of another being that stood before me.

I looked up, trying not to move. They were everywhere. There were at least four or five.

All massive and dark...

_I just wanted to sleep..._

_Please just..._

My thought was interrupted by the flickering lights in the room, they strobed like those you would see in haunted houses during Halloween...

But this was no haunted house...

The lights were solid now, everything was awash with white and I could see the creatures for what they were...

The teeth were long and white and deadly, the fur was dark and matted with dirt and blood.

The sweat and dirt and other fluid from their bodies dripped gracelessly to the floor, leaving sickening oily stains on the wood paneling...

They were terrible...hideous...

They were...

The Animals...


End file.
